All I've Ever Needed
by KatBauer
Summary: He feels a small tug, right on his heart, and the feeling is so sudden and like nothing he's ever felt before that to say he's confused, is the understatement of the year. [Sequel to Red String of Fate]


**A/N:** This is a sequel to "Red String of Fate" so it is imperative that you read that one first, or this will make zero sense. 

* * *

><p>The first time it happens, he's sitting on the edge of the bed, half asleep and trying to put on his shoes while Skye is walking around the room, wearing only her jeans and a bra, and frantically looking for her shirt.<p>

He feels a small tug, right on his heart, and the feeling is so sudden and like nothing he's ever felt before, that he freezes, the hand holding his left shoe suspended in mid-air.

He looks up at Skye, but she's too busy still searching for the rest of her clothes, and he thinks, with a small frown, that it couldn't have come from her. He reaches out anyway, just to be sure, but when he doesn't find anything weird or out of the ordinary in the string of emotions that connects her to him, he shrugs and continues with the task of getting dressed.

But just as he goes to stand up, the feeling is back, and even though it _is_ a small tug, the force of it, along with the shock, is enough to knock him on his ass and back onto the mattress.

Of course, Skye immediately notices and stops what she's doing to give him a slightly worried look.

"Are you okay?"

When he doesn't answer, she goes to him and slowly runs her fingers through his hair trying to comfort him somehow.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

To say that he's confused, is the understatement of the year.

He blinks up at her, his hands settling on her hips as he pulls her between his legs and rests his forehead against her stomach, closing his eyes.

"I'm not sure," he says quietly. "I felt something, but I don't know what it was."

"What kind of something?" Skye asks, tilting her head with curiosity.

"I've no idea."

After a moment of silence, he kisses her skin and then pulls back. "You should get dressed, we're going to be late," he says.

She looks down at him, eyes now filled with concern. "Are you sure? If you're not feeling okay, maybe we should-"

But he's no longer paying attention because the tiny tug on his heart is back, and now he's positive that it's coming from Skye.

He pulls back a little, inspecting her body up and down, looking for something, _anything_, that can possibly give him a clue, and then he stops, mouth hanging open and eyes going wide.

"Ward? Are you listening to me?"

Slowly, so very slowly, he presses his palm flat against her stomach and carefully opens the connection with Skye just a bit wider. And sure enough, he feels it again, only stronger this time. Like it knows he's listening.

Feeling the abrupt change in the turmoil of his emotions, Skye startles. "What are you doing?"

"You- You don't know yet," he stammers.

"I don't know what?"

He swallows the lump in his throat and stands up, his hands cradling Skye's face with tenderness.

"Sweetheart," he says, voice thick with emotion. "I think you're pregnant."

Skye blinks one, two, three times, her hands now tightly gripping Ward's wrists as she tries to process his words.

"What?" she finally manages to squeak out.

"What I felt," he says, one hand moving to very gently poke at her belly. "I thought it was coming from you, but I was wrong. It _is_, but it's not _you_."

"So you're saying- that I'm pregnant and _the baby_ is talking to you?"

"Yes," he nods, and then grimaces when he realizes that, that doesn't make any sense. "No, not talking. It's- It's like what we do, what we have," he says, struggling with words to try and make her understand, because _god_, he's now absolutely sure that this is actually happening. "I can _feel_ it, too."

"_It_ being the hypothetical baby?" Skye asks, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Not hypothetical."

He kisses her nose, and then sits back down on the bed, pressing his forehead against her belly once more, and Skye can hear him whispering something to it.

"Ward, I- How can you be sure? I don't-" she stops when he pulls her closer and unbuttons her jeans, kissing all over her belly, and she has to hold on to his shoulders to steady herself.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up," Skye says softly, biting down on her bottom lip when he presses a kiss to her belly button. "Maybe it's nothing."

But he shakes his head stubbornly, and looks up at her with pleading eyes. "Just try. Try to listen."

And so she does, even though she is not exactly sure what she's supposed to be looking for. She closes her eyes again, and sure enough, she can feel _him_. Waves upon waves of pure, sheer joy and so much love it makes her eyes fill with tears.

She can feel the wild beating of his heart and a tiny, little thumping sound that seems to beat along with it, a sound that is not supposed to be there. She scrunches up her nose and focuses on it, trying to figure out where it's coming from.

Only to realize that it's coming from _her_.

"Oh," she says, sucking in a breath.

Ward chuckles, nuzzling her belly, and even though it's just a soft whisper, his words shake her to her very core.

"I think mommy found you, little one."

"Wow, hey," Skye lets out a nervous laugh as she pats his shoulder. "Let's not jump to conclusions, okay? Let me- Let me take a-" she swallows. "A pregnancy test, first."

"You're scared," he says with a frown.

"You think? I'm used to us doing this… _thing_, but you- You knowing that I'm- that I'm pregnant before _I_ know it?"

"I'm sorry," he says, bowing his head and running a hand over his face. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just- I got carried away."

"You really want this, don't you," she says softly, nudging his thigh with her knee and sitting on his lap, arms looping around his neck.

"A baby with you? Yeah," he says, and the grin he gives her is so full of hope, it makes her heart ache with longing. "I can't think of anything more perfect than that."

"There's a drugstore a few blocks from here," she says, trying to ignore the blush that's crept up her neck and cheeks. "If we go now, we can find out tonight."

"What about the meeting?"

"That can wait. I'll deal with Coulson tomorrow."

"I'm really sorry, Skye," he says again after a pause. "I should've- handled it differently."

But Skye shakes her head and, tangling her fingers in his hair, she gingerly tilts his head up, her lips brushing against his.

"You did nothing wrong," she murmurs against his lips. "You just took me by surprise, is all."

"So you're okay with this?"

"I'm _terrified_," she laughs. "But it's yours, and mine, and it's-"

"Ours?" he supplies with a tentative smile.

"Yeah, I'm more than okay with that," she whispers, taking his face in her hands and kissing him again.

By the time she pulls away, he's looking at her with a goofy smile and a dazed look in his eyes, and she has to tug on his hand to get him to stand up.

"Come on, don't you wanna know?"

"Stay here," he says, kissing her forehead before grabbing his jacket. "I'll go."

**xxx**

By the time he comes back, Skye is curled up in bed under a pile of blankets, and for a brief moment, Ward panics, thinking that something is wrong. But when he sits next to her, she stretches and yawns, and then blinks up at him with sleepy eyes.

"You're back," she says groggily, shifting closer to him when he runs a hand through her tousled hair.

He shows her the tiny box. "Do you want to do this now?" He looks hesitatingly at her still half asleep expression. "You don't have to, it can wait."

"Grant," she says, sitting up, and his eyes snap up to meet hers when his name leaves her lips. "Please?" she asks, reaching for the box, and he hands it to her with a silent nod.

She locks herself in the bathroom and it's all Ward can do not to have a meltdown right then and there as he waits for her to come out. But she does, and he breathes a sigh of relief, and when she raises an eyebrow at him, he gives her an apologetic smile.

"Three more minutes," she says. "Think you can handle it?"

She can feel the impatience and the barely contained excitement radiating off him, and she has to bite on the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning at how ridiculously adorable he is.

"No, but I already know the result."

"_How_ did that happen?"

"You and I," he says, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against his body until there's not an inch of space between them. "We're special, it makes sense for our baby to be special, too."

"Simmons is going to have a field day with this one," Skye chuckles, but her laugh is quickly cut off by a shudder when he drags his lips down her throat and then kisses her pulse point. "What- What are you doing?"

"Fifty seconds left," he murmurs. "Might as well make them count."

"Isn't that how we ended up in this situation in the first place?" she asks.

He laughs against her neck, his breath hot on her skin, sending a jolt of electricity down to her every nerve ending, and she has to close her eyes for a moment to rein in her emotions.

But before he can do anything else, the alarm on her phone beeps and Skye nearly jumps out of her skin, Ward's arms around her being the only thing grounding her.

"Hey, it's okay," he whispers soothingly. "Want me to look first?"

She nods, and he kisses her temple before releasing his hold on her and making his way to the bathroom. She leans against the door frame, her eyes intently following his every move as he takes the stick and frowns at it.

It's not the look on his face, or the way his body shifts, it's the hurricane of emotions that suddenly crashes into her what finally confirms his words and tells her that the result is exactly what he had predicted it would be.

_Positive._

Happiness, pride, fear, concern, all hit her at once and she can't tell if the array of mixed feelings is coming from him or from her, or from both of them.

"_Grant_."

In an instant, he's there, and she finds herself being wrapped securely in his arms, and she holds on to him for dear life as he kisses all over her face.

"I'm guessing you were right?" she says, trembling.

He pulls back just the enough to hold the test stick up for her to see the two blue lines, and then he tosses it into the sink, focusing his full attention back on her. His hands cradle her face while the pads of his thumbs wipe away a few stray tears, and she smiles up at him, bottom lip quivering.

"_Oh, god_," she breathes, eyes widening when it finally dawns on her.

Gripping her wrist with gentleness, he brings it up to his lips to kiss her marks, and the tender gesture is enough to soothe her.

"We're going to have a baby," he says in awe.

And Skye nearly breaks just thinking about him holding a tiny baby in his arms, _their_ tiny baby, and she wants to _weep_ because her chest suddenly feels so tight she's sure it's going to burst at any moment.

But before she even has the time to form a coherent response to his words, he scoops her up in his arms and carries her to their bed, carefully laying her down on the mattress. He pushes her shirt up and presses his lips to her belly.

"Daddy loves you, baby."

Skye threads her fingers in his hair and tugs until he's crawling up her body, and she can pull his face down to hers to kiss him, leaving him breathless.

"I love you," she whispers between kisses.

He grins against her lips, his fingertips brushing against the skin of her stomach. "I love you both."


End file.
